Quo Vadis GOP?

[Berkut]

We can joke about this, and it is absurdly funny, but this is the rhetoric that led to Jan 6th, and that was just the start.

They have created a narrative where if you accept the premise, it is actually quite reasonably to resort to violence when you lose an "election".

[Sheilbh]

Yeah - I think it goes way before 6 January and it is worth looking back at various bits of right-wing/conservative discourse around a number of issues and asking "what were they giving themselves permission to do?" (comes up a lot on the Know Your Enemies podcast) because I don't it all inevitably leads to this moment. But the sort of tools to get here have been dropped along the way.

[Eddie Teach]

And these aren't random schlubs but highly placed officials. Not a good development.

[DGuller]

I'm long beyond mocking the gaslighting by the right-wingers.  It's not exactly hard to find flaws in their arguments; what no one seems to have figured out is making any of it matter.  They're whipping themselves into a frenzy that leads to a bloody coup, and giggling at it doesn't seem like an adequate response.

[Jacob]

Yeah, I saw a thing a few days ago about how Trumpists (i.e. coup enablers, people peddling Trump's big lie) are being pushed as candidates for state level positions where they can potentially overturn state level elections. Meanwhile, as shown, senior leaders continue building and pushing the narrative that it's the Democrats who are "cheating" and attempting a coup.

And Murdoch media is aiding, abetting, and amplyfying the message.

It is, IMO, a clear and present danger to the republic.

[The Brain]

There was a time - centuries ago it seems! - when I thought that democracy was very resilient in America. Turned out that democracy in the US was hollow. Feet filled with clay. Alas!

[grumbler]

A bunch of Virginia Republicans came out in favor of Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia governor's race, almost immediately after Donald Trump slurped on Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin's cock.  Trump isn't popular in Virginia (he lost in the presidential election by double digits in 2020) and even the traditional Republican loyalists are treating him like poison.  The Youngkin campaign seems to be counting on getting a higher turnout of a smaller support base to win.  Turnout is typically around 45% for the off-year Virginia elections.

[grumbler]

There was a time - centuries ago it seems! - when I thought that democracy was very resilient in America.

You and me, both.  I continue to be baffled by the extent to which people eagerly believe fairy tales that directly harm them.

[Razgovory]

We can joke about this, and it is absurdly funny, but this is the rhetoric that led to Jan 6th, and that was just the start.

They have created a narrative where if you accept the premise, it is actually quite reasonably to resort to violence when you lose an "election".

The rhetoric got nasty back in the 1990's and the result was the Oklahoma city bombing.  After the bombing Republicans stepped back, and decided to cool things down a bit.  They passed an anti-terrorism bill and started shuffling some of the crazier people to the back.  The militia movement pretty much fell apart and we didn't have those standoffs with federal law enforcement. I'm not saying it all stopped, but there was a decrease in this sort of behavior. When Trump lost, I figured someone would do something stupid like Oklahoma city.  Jan 6th certainly fit the bill.  For about two weeks it looked like they were stepping back.  Now they are endorsing the people who attacked the Capitol.  After this I don't know what happens.

[Neil]

Unfortunately, there's no real way to rein them in when they can bypass the media and take their insanity directly to the people.  The difference between now and the revisionist movements of the Twentieth century is that the popular media was out of their reach were largely out of their reach and that factional difficulties kept them from coordinating.  I'm thinking of groups like the hippies or the militia movement.  They had a national ideological media source that they were able to grow strong on, and when they radicalized past the point where even Fox was willing to go, the existence of the Internet allowed for them to radicalize people directly.  And they most definitely have their Dear Leader. 

[Sheilbh]

The rhetoric got nasty back in the 1990's and the result was the Oklahoma city bombing.  After the bombing Republicans stepped back, and decided to cool things down a bit.  They passed an anti-terrorism bill and started shuffling some of the crazier people to the back.  The militia movement pretty much fell apart and we didn't have those standoffs with federal law enforcement. I'm not saying it all stopped, but there was a decrease in this sort of behavior. When Trump lost, I figured someone would do something stupid like Oklahoma city.  Jan 6th certainly fit the bill.  For about two weeks it looked like they were stepping back.  Now they are endorsing the people who attacked the Capitol.  After this I don't know what happens.

I think there are links around them.

But ultimately as long as Trump is involved he will never back down - he is psychologically incapable of appearing "weak" or "losing". Everything has to be a win or a victory - or he has been cheated and as long as his fans are behind him that's going to drive the GOP. I think expecting anything else at the moment is like the futile hope that the Presidency would change him which I never understood.

[Razgovory]

I think there are links around them.

I don't know what this means.

[Solmyr]

A bunch of Virginia Republicans came out in favor of Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia governor's race, almost immediately after Donald Trump slurped on Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin's cock.  Trump isn't popular in Virginia (he lost in the presidential election by double digits in 2020) and even the traditional Republican loyalists are treating him like poison.  The Youngkin campaign seems to be counting on getting a higher turnout of a smaller support base to win.  Turnout is typically around 45% for the off-year Virginia elections.

So I guess Virginia won't be joining the Confederacy this time around?

[Sheilbh]

I don't know what this means.

I think all of the points you raised around Oklahoma and the present are sort of linked.

[Syt]

This ad by Gov. Kemp (GA) is ... interesting. 

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1439254679880339463?s=20